Realization
by n.t.s.JuStDayDreaming
Summary: When you realize that realizing things is not as easy as you always thought it was, then you realized something that is worth realizing. Rated T for now. I don t own anything, but my imagination...
1. Chapter 1

**Realization**

**When you realize that realizing things is not as easy as you always thought it was, then you realized something that is worth realizing.**

"I wonder why the clouds are white and candy floss can be in any color. I always thought that they were the same thing, but one time a teacher told me that clouds consist of water and candy floss tastes like candy. I mean that´s why it´s called CANDY floss, right?..." Cat looked at me with her big brown eyes as she kept on talking about random things. Some people might consider Cat as weird, because she always says what she is thinking, and believe me, she thinks about really odd things sometimes, but I just think she is adorable. Everyone talks about how you should always tell the truth and say what you are thinking, but if someone actually does it, they get offended or something just because they don´t like what the person is saying.

Well… maybe Cat isn´t just someone. I mean she has a very vivid imagination and maybe you need some time to get used to her and follow what she is saying, but I just love her.

Cat Valentine is my best friend.

From time to time I think about it how people cannot like her and I just don´t understand it at all. Cat is such a sweet and caring person and her personality just fits perfectly with her looks. Her face is round and cute, her lips look soft and full, her red hair is almost as colorful as her imagination, when she looks at you with her chocolate brown eyes, you can almost see the innocence in them and plus the fact that she is also small, she looks so childlike that your mind just makes you want to protect her. Cat is just adorable.

Cat and I were standing at my locker after our last period. It was finally Friday and I had nothing to do over the weekend except of writing a little scene for my English class, but that was not very difficult. "What are you doing on the weekend?" I asked my best friend. Cat didn´t respond. She was spacing out like she did very often. Daydreaming seemed to be one of her favorite things to do.

"Hey Cat." I said, this time a little louder as I grabbed her shoulders and shook them.

"Huh?" Cat looked at me with a questioning expression. I laughed at her confused face.

"I asked you, what you have planned for your weekend." I repeated.

"I am going to do something with my friend" She said smiling.

"Oh." Man I wanted to do something with her. "And what are you going to do?"

"That depends…" She said still smiling at me.

"On what?" I asked, raising one eyebrow.

"What you want to do." Typically Cat. She always teased me. I grinned back at her.

"How about a sleepover at my house?" I suggested.

"Yey! Sleepover at Tori´s!" She started to bounce around and I just stood there and grinned. It was funny how something little like a sleepover could make her so happy.

I was just getting out of the shower, when I heard the bell ring. I looked at my Pearphone and was shocked to see that it was already so late. Man I always forget the time, when I am under the shower. I start to sing and totally don´t care about anything else.

I grabbed a towel and ran downstairs to open the door.

"Hey! Tori?" Cat looked at me from head to toe. "Did you forget that I was coming over? " She asked, looking like she was about to cry. Cat´s mood always changed so fast and easy.

"No, no, of course not. I just forgot the time. I was under the shower and… uhm why don´t you come in first." I opened the door a little wider so she could come in and closed it quickly behind her. I was only wearing a towel, so it was a little bit cold. Cat bounced into my living room with a big smile on her face. Just like I said: mood changing.

"Could you wait just a few minutes? I need to put some clothes on."

"Sure thing" She smiled and let herself fall on the couch. "I´ll be right here."

I hurried up in my room and thought about whether I should put on my PJs or jeans and a shirt. I chose my PJs. It´s a sleepover after all. I chose the white one with the pink ice cream on it. It was my favorite one, because the material was so comfy.

I walked down the stairs and saw Cat lying on the couch just like she was when I left her. She had her eyes closed and it looked like she was sleeping. I snuck my way to the couch and leaned over her to scare her, but she seemed so peaceful that I just couldn´t do it. I smiled at her cute face. She had her mouth slightly open, just like a baby. Cat was so adorable. My eyes wandered to her clothes. I hadn´t noticed before that she also was already in her PJs. She had on a pink shirt with a smiling cupcake on it and pink shorts. I grinned to myself. That totally fit her.

BAAM!

The front door flew open, making me jump. I saw Trina standing in the doorway.

"Tori! Where are Mom and Dad?" She shouted at me.

"They are at Grandma´s over the weekend. Remember?" I answered calmly.

Cat moved beside me and opened her eyes. God, she looked so sweet and sleepy.

"Great! I am out with some friends. Don´t know when I am coming home. Maybe I won´t. Have fun, or don´t. I don´t care." Trina shut the door and I heard a car stopping and driving away.

"What´s going on?" Cat asked yawning. Even that looked adorable.

"Nothing it was just Trina being Trina." I smiled at her.

"Wait. Did I sleep? Why didn´t you wake me?" She asked curious.

"Uhm… you looked so sweet that I simply couldn´t." I told her.

"Ooh." Cat blushed. So cute.

I stood up. "So what do you want to do? Do you want to watch a movie or make cupcakes…?"

At the word "cupcakes" she jumped from the couch screaming "Yey! Cupcakes!" and ran in the kitchen. I laughed and followed her.

One hour or so later we sat on the sofa, watching a movie and eating our freshly baked cupcakes. Cat had a big smile on her face and I was happy when she was happy. Cat had that kind of effect on others. When she is sad you kind of want to cry with her and when she is happy you can´t help but smile.

Sometime in the middle of the movie Cat managed to snuggle herself into my arms. Now she was sitting on my lap, her head resting on my shoulder and my hands on her hips. I looked at her and noticed that she tried very hard to keep her eyes open. They always fell shut and after a while they stayed like that. I watched her fall asleep. Her breathing went slower and more frequent. She still had a smile on her face. I think Cat was the only person that could actually fall asleep smiling. She was so adorable.

Cat was even lighter than I had thought. I carried her to my room and laid her on my bed. It was good that we already brushed our teeth, because I wouldn´t have the nerve to do it now and Cat was asleep. I slipped under the blanket and made myself comfortable. Probably I moved a little too much, because Cat turned around and faced me with her drowsy eyes.

"Where am I?" She asked and looked around the room, but it was dark so she couldn´t see anything.

"You´re in my room. I carried you up."

"Thanks." She said and snuggled herself back into my arms. I gave her a quick kiss on the forehead and she was back asleep in an instant. I watched her sleep until my sight became a blur.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

I woke up and felt arms and legs around me. As I opened my eyes all I saw was red hair. I tried to unwrap myself from Cat´s tight grip and was very careful not to wake her, but she did anyway. I sighed. "Sorry I woke you up." I couldn´t help but smile at her expression. Her just-woke-up-face was really pretty. "Why are you smiling?" She asked.

"You look sleepy." I said still smiling.

"What´s that supposed to mean?" The girl asked offended.

"Nothing, nothing. You just look cute." I said quickly. I liked her sleepy face more than her upset one.

"Thanks." Cat mumbled blushing. Oh this was my favorite face so far. Her cheeks had the perfect shade of red and I caught myself staring at her. I quickly looked away and noticed my alarm clock. It was only 9 am. On Saturdays I normally stayed in bed ´till 1 pm or even later. That meant that Cat and I could just keep cuddling.

"What do you want to do today?" I asked my best friend. She thought about it. Her thinking face was also very sweet. Cat smiled as an idea crossed her mind.

"I want to go to the beach." She told me happily. I reflected her smile. That was actually a pretty good idea.

"Do you want me to text André, Robbie, Beck and Jade? Maybe they want to come with us." I suggested. She shook her head yes and I wanted to get up so I could get my pearphone, but Cat hold me back. I looked at her questioning.

"Not yet. I want to stay in bed with you." She said and as I didn´t lay down she added a "pretty please." I couldn´t say no to her begging expression. I sighed and hugged her closely.

We stayed like this for over an hour, talking about nothing in particular, sometimes not speaking at all. It was great. I wished every Saturday morning could be like this.

Around half past 10 am Cat fell asleep again. This time I managed to get out of bed without waking her up. I grabbed my pearphone and texted our friends.

_**Tori André, Robbie, Beck and Jade:**__ Wanna go 2 the beach 2day? :D_

It only took a view seconds ´till they texted back.

_**André:**__ Sure thing, Toro ;)_

_**Robbie: **__Yup. Haven´t had anything planned anyway._

_**Beck: **__Great idea :) Jade´s coming too._

I smiled. This is going to be an awesome day.

As much as I didn´t want to, I had to wake Cat up. I leaned down, kissed her on the cheek and whispered in her ear.

"Wake up, Cutie. We got to get ready and drive over to your house to grab your stuff."

She mumbled something inaudible into my pillow. It seemed like I had no choice. I sat on top of Cat and started to tickle her. Cat was awake immediately. She laughed and tried to push me off, but I was stronger.

"Still don´t want to get up?" I asked laughing along with her.

"I-I su-surrender." She said under her laughter. I got of the bed and pulled her with me.

Still giggling we walked down the stairs and into the kitchen. I made myself and Cat some pancakes. I knew that they were Cat´s favorite things to have for breakfast.

After we finished eating, I changed into my Caribbean blue bikini and put on some shorts and a blue top. Cat sat patiently waiting on my bed, as I stepped out of the bathroom. I grabbed some stuff and packed it into my beach bag. "Are you ready?" I smiled at my best friend.

"No, I don´t have a bikini." She said pouting. There, now that is my new number 1 on my "Cat´s cutest expressions"-list.

"That´s why we are heading to your house, silly." I grabbed her hand and we walked to my car.

I pulled out of our parking lot and noticed that Cat wasn´t smiling. She even looked a little sad.  
"Cat? What´s wrong?" I asked.

"Nothing." She answered, but didn´t look at me while she said it.

"Come on, I can see that something bothers you. Tell me."

Cat waited a few moments and then hesitantly said: "Tori,… Do you really think that I am stupid?"

"What?! Why should I think that?" Now I was confused.

"You called me silly, just before we left your house." She looked out of the window, so I couldn´t see her face.

"No, Cat. You totally misunderstood me. That was… I didn´t mean it like that." I took hold of one of her hands and squeezed it lightly. "I would never think that you are stupid or dumb or anything like that, Cat, because you aren´t. You are special and exceptional and talented and sweet and beautiful and everything, but not silly." I told her.

I looked at Cat, who was now facing me, and saw that she was blushing in all shades of red. I made her blush a lot lately.

"You mean that?" She asked. Were there tears in her eyes?

"Of course, Cutie." I meant what I said. She smiled and I smiled back.

The rest of the drive was quiet. Cat and I were still holding hands, when I turned off the engine.

"Go and get your stuff. I´ll wait here." I said and Cat hopped out of the car. I watched her prancing into her house.

I have got to be more careful of what I say, when I´m with Cat. I knew that she was easily offended and saddened. People thought that´s because she had a weak personality, but I didn´t feel that way. Cat was just… intense…, which was something good. At least that´s how I saw it.

I thought about how badly it had upset her, when she believed that I called her silly. I immediately felt like I could hit myself in the face for not being more aware of what I say. I loved Cat and I hated to see her troubled or sad or even slightly unhappy. It made me feel unhappy too.

Come to think of it, Cat was getting more sensitive about things I say to her. I wondered why that was.

I was torn out of my thoughts, as Cat hopped into her seat beside me. I didn´t even see her get out of the house, so I jumped at the sound of her shutting the door.

"Did I scare you?" She asked, trying to hide her smile.

"Kind of, yeah." I told her. "I was just in thoughts."  
"What were you thinking about?" Cat wanted to know.

"Nothing important" Which was a lie, because I had been thinking about her and Cat was important. "Did you get everything? Are you ready for the beach?"

"Yup, I am ready!" Cat cheered. I switched on the radio and turned up the volume. We started to sing along and I was captured by her strong and beautiful voice. Cat was really talented and it became clear to me, why she was attending Hollywood Arts.

We reached the beach and I saw that Jade and Beck were already there. Beck waved at us when we got out of the car. Jade just stood there with her annoyed expression. When I first entered HA I had absolutely no idea, why Beck would date such a mean and aggressive person, but by now I realized that this is not everything Jade was. She might be cruel sometimes, and believe me, I know what I am talking about, but Jade was also loyal and she can be a lot of fun to hang around, when she was in the mood. I think everyone can understand why Jade was dating Beck. He was not only handsome and charming, but also funny, smart and a couple of other things.

Unlike Jade thought I didn´t have a crush on Beck. I mean sure I loved him, but only as a friend, like André and Robbie.

"Hey guys!" Beck gave Cat and me a quick hug and Jade shot me an angry look. I just looked away and acted like I didn´t see it.

"Tori! I wanna go swimming!" Cat pouted, grabbed my hand and ran towards the ocean.

I heard Beck laughing behind me, as I dropped my stuff on the beach and landed in the water with my shirt still on.

"Cat!" I screamed, because she just laughed at me. I glared at her, which made her laugh even harder. I turned around and went to pick up my belongings. I spread out my towel and sat down next to Jade, who was now slightly grinning.

"I bet you assume this as very funny." I stated, while I took off my sopping wet shirt.

"Indeed, Vega, indeed." Jade smiled.

Well, at least it was hot enough that I could dry my clothes in the sun. It was a wonderful day. There were no clouds in the sky and the water was glistening in the sunlight. Although the weather was really nice, there were hardly any people on the beach, which was awesome, because I hated it when the strand was crowded.

While I watched the waves play, I heard a car arrive and a few seconds later I felt someone hug me from behind.

"Hey, Toro." I heard André saying.

"Hey guys!" Robbie had gotten here too. I said hi to both of them and lied back on my towel to take a nap. I didn´t get as much sleep as on normal Saturdays.

Just as I closed my eyes I heard a scream.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Everything went really fast. I heard Cat´s scream, my head shot in the direction where the sound came from and my eyes went wide in shock. Cat was standing waist deep in the water, when a surfer came straight in her direction, he didn´t even have the time to react as the front of his surfboard hit Cat right on the head.

I tried to get to her as fast as I could. Somebody shouted for a phone to call an ambulance. I think it was Beck but I didn´t care. All I was thinking about was Cat. Cat. Cat. Cat.

When I finally reached her, she was unconscious and blood was streaming down her head. I carried her out of the water and carefully laid her down in the sand. By now her face and shoulders were almost as red as her hair. There was just so much blood, so damn much blood... I screamed for someone to help me, to make her stop bleeding, to do something, to do ANYthing. I pressed my hand on her wound, it felt warm and wet and I was close to freaking out, but at least it helped a little bit to weaken the bloodstream. I felt tears running down my cheeks. My heart broke a hundred times, seeing her that hurt.

"Please, Cat... Don´t die… Don´t leave me… Don´t do this to me." I begged, my voice was merely a whisper and even though I knew she didn´t hear me I kept on mumbling things to her.

Moments later I heard the ambulance coming and I was pushed away by some paramedics.

"Are you hurt?" One of them asked me. New tears started to flow down my face. Why didn´t this stupid guy hit me? Why did it have to be her? Why Cat?

"Are you ok?" The woman asked again. A soundless "no" was all I could manage. The woman looked at me and searched for any signs that I could be injured, but though I had blood on my hands and bikini, she came to the conclusion that I wasn´t.

"Do you want to stay with your friend?" The woman gave me a warm smile and I nodded. She led me to the ambulance vehicle, where they were carrying Cat to.

Before I got into the car, I looked around me and saw Beck standing with Jade, who didn´t look so well. Her face was paler than usual and her cheeks were wet like she had been crying too. Though she never really showed it, Jade liked Cat a lot and I bet she was going to crush that stupid surfer worse than he crushed Cat. Beck gave me a sign that told me he would be right behind me.

The drive to the hospital was short, but to me it seemed like forever. The paramedics asked me a lot about Cat. Her name, her age, where she lived, who her parents were and a few other things that I couldn´t remember. I answered them all, but couldn´t take my eyes off Cat the whole drive long. Was she going to be okay? She looked so damn bad. There was still blood on her forehead and I wished it would just disappear. The only red thing I wanted on Cat was her hair. My brain kept repeating the scene of her getting hit. It was horrible and I just craved for it to shut up.

When we arrived at the hospital, they immediately took her to the emergency room, while telling me to wait and then they left me alone with myself. I sat down on one of the uncomfortable chairs, placed my head into my hands and started to sob. This was unfair. Cat was the sweetest and loveliest girl in the world, she didn´t deserve this.

A few minutes later I felt a hand on my shoulder. I looked up and saw Beck´s sad eyes looking down on me. I threw myself into his arms and started to cry even harder than before. Beck tried to calm me down and told me that everything was going to be okay, Cat was going to be okay. I wanted so much to believe him, but he couldn´t stop me from worrying. It was the first time that Jade didn´t threat me for getting that close to Beck. She just stood behind him with an empty face, looking to the ground.

"Where are André and Robbie?" I sniveled as I let go of Beck.

"They went to grab some clothes and stuff from Cat´s house." Beck told me and looked around the room. "Are Cat´s parents here yet?"

"No, at least I didn´t see them." I answered.

"That´s weird. I called them and left a message on their mailbox. Maybe they aren´t at home." He said and sat on the chair beside me.

The next hours went by silently and very slowly. Now and then one of us would stand up and walk around, but we were always quiet, because nobody knew what to say. Every time a door went open, our heads turned, but it was never someone that could tell us anything about our friend.

"I can´t stand this! Not knowing, it´s killing me! It´s freaking me out-!" But I was cut off by a voice.

"Cat Valentine?" A man in a white coat entered the waiting room, hopefully her doctor.

"Yes! Can you tell us anything about her condition?" Beck asked with a serious face.

"Are you related to her?" I watched enough Grey´s Anatomy to know that I should lie.

"Yes. I´m her cousin." I told the doctor without any hesitation. Beck looked at me with his eyebrows raised, but didn´t say anything, which I was really grateful for.

"Well, Miss Valentine has a _cerebrum collisum_, in other words, a brain contusion. Furthermore she has lost a lot of blood, which is not usual at this kind of injury, but it seems like the surfboard hit her on a certain spot, which caused the heavy loss of blood." The doctor explained.

"And what exactly means this for her? Is she going to be okay?" I held my breath as I waited for him to answer.

"Miss Valentine is stable. Due to the quick intake and operation, we could prevent further damage and your cousin is going to recover completely." I exhaled and a small smile spread across my face.

"Can we see her?" I asked for permission.

"Of course. According to my papers, she is in room A315. You just have to walk along this corridor and turn left at the end of it." He showed us the way, excused himself and went to look after a patient.

We almost ran down the hallway, but as my hand gripped the handle of the door, they were so shaky that I barely managed to push it down, afraid of what I was going to see. I stepped into the room, very slowly and my gaze moved from the floor, up to a bed that was covered in white, to a monitor that showed a frequently beating heart rate and finally to her face. Cat´s face. She looked like she was asleep, having the same peaceful expression as if she was dreaming. She didn´t look bad. Her head was bandaged and there were a few tubes that were connected with the monitor, but at least the blood was gone.

Beck and Jade sat down on the couch that was standing across the bed, I grabbed a chair and placed it as close to Cat as possible. I took Cat´s hand into mine and stroked a strand of red hair out of her face and behind her ear.

"You love Cat, don´t you?" Jade commented. I turned around to look at her.

"She is my best friend, of course I love her." I stated and though it seemed like she wanted to add something else, she didn´t say anything. I wondered what she was thinking, but left the conversation undone. I could ask her another time. She wouldn´t tell me now anyway, if I questioned her.

The door opened and André and Robbie came in. Robbie carried a bag in his hands and placed it next to the couch.

"How is she?" The boys wanted to know. Both of them looked concerned. Robbie was staring at the monitor with Cat´s heartbeat on it.

"She´s going to be okay, but she has lost a lot of blood and if Tori hadn´t been, well I don´t know if there would have been enough blood left." Beck´s words gave me shudders down my back. Just thinking about what could have happened made me feel sick.

My friends started to chat about casual things. I listened to their babbling, but didn´t enter the conversation. I wordlessly sat on my chair and watched Cat´s face, hoping that she would open her eyes soon.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

Beck, Jade and Robbie went home around 11 pm. The only ones left were André and me, since Cat´s parents didn´t even show up yet. Robbie said that they hadn`t been home, when they got Cat`s stuff.

"Are you going to spend the night here or what?" André asked with his eyebrows raised.

"Yeah. I don´t want her to be alone, when she wakes up." I told him.

"You sure are a great friend. First saving her and then watching over her." He gave me a smile, while he patted my head.

"Well, I would stay here with you, but I have to go home. My grandma called. She said something about a chair chasing her through her apartment…" André shook his head. He wished me a good night, walked out of the door and left me alone with my best friend.

The doctors said that it could take hours to days for her to wake up. While waiting, I called at home. I knew that nobody would pick up, because the only one there was Trina, but I still didn´t want to make her worry, so I left a voicemail.

It got very difficult to keep my eyes open. It was a really exhausting day with all the drama and nerve-racking waiting and at about 1 or 2 am I couldn´t stay awake anymore. I rested my head on the bed beside Cat´s sleeping figure and slowly drifted into my dreams.

I woke up, not really because I was rested and had enough sleep, but my room was so bright that I could almost see the lightness with my eyes closed.

_Why am I sitting? Man, my back hurt. Wait… this is not my room._ I opened my eyes and in the moment I saw Cat´s sleeping face, the memories came flowing back into my head. I stroked her cheek. I hoped that she would wake up soon. I missed her smiles and giggles. I missed her laughter and happiness. I missed… her. It had been one day. Okay maybe not even 24 hours, but still…

"Please open your eyes, Cat." I whispered and squeezed her hand slightly. Nothing. She didn´t move. Cat just lied there, completely still, and breathed in and out, and in and out… Then my pearphone rang. I grabbed it and looked at the display: Trina.

"Yeah?" I accepted the call.

"Tori! Where are you? I just came home and went into your room to borrow your new shoes and I saw that you didn´t sleep in your bed, because it looked all tidy, and I was worried!" Trina started.

"Relax. I left you a message." I told her. It was just typical for her not to check the mailbox, before freaking out.

"Oh… Anyway… Where are you? Did you spend the night with a guy?" She joked and I could almost hear her eyebrows wiggling.

"No Trina… I´m in the hospital. Cat had an accident." I informed her.

"Oh… So can I borrow your shoes?" Seriously? What kind of person is she?

"Don´t you even wanna know how she is?" She so can´t have my pumps.

"Well I guess she´s okay. Otherwise you would be all crying and stuff." She was so… not… wrong. I sighed.

"Yeah take them, but I want them back." And then she just hung up. Great.

I needed to change my clothes and I really needed a shower, but I didn´t want Cat to wake up alone. _Maybe I should call André. No, I´m pretty sure that he´s busy with his crazy grandma. Robbie? But what if he brings Rex? _There are not many things Cat hated, but Rex was one of them. Beck would probably be a good idea, but he told me that he had to work on a project for school._ Guess I have no choice._

"Hi Jade."

"What do you want, Vega?" She sounded as annoyed as always.

"Could you please do me a favor?" I asked hesitantly.

"And why would I do that?"

"Jade, please it´s nothing big. I need you to stay with Cat for a while. Not even long. Maybe one or two hours. So I can-." I spoke quickly, but she cut me off.

"I´ll do it. Give me 10 minutes." She hung up, without another word. You could say what you want, but Jade wasn´t a bad friend.

"I´m here. Now hurry and do whatever you have to do." Jade said when she entered the room.

"Thanks, Jade…" I had to ask her one more thing... "Listen. Since I´ve gotten here with the ambulance..." Jade understood and offered me her car keys.

"Don´t you dare giving it a scratch." I took the keys and thanked her again, before I rushed out of the hospital.

It was hard for me to stay within the speed limit, because I wanted to get back to Cat as fast as possible. But since it was Jade´s car it wouldn´t be a good idea to break the traffic instructions.

When I got home I speeded upstairs into my bathroom, stripped off my clothes and hopped into the shower. The hot water felt good and relaxing against my skin. It washed the bad feelings away that I had since I heard Cat´s scream. _Cat was going to be okay. I should try to call her parents. Why didn´t they visit Cat yet? Maybe I should drop by her house, before driving back to the hospital._

After I dried my hair and changed into fresh clothes, I grabbed some food from the kitchen. Since I haven´t had something to eat for a little less than a day, I was starving. Next I searched for a pen and something to write on, to leave Trina a message. I found a post-it and wrote:

_Please get my car! It is parked at the beach, usual place. Andre has the keys. Thanks. Tori_

I put it on the outside of the front door, so she couldn´t oversee it and got into Jade´s car. I decided to head to Cat´s place. Perhaps her parents didn´t even know that she had an accident. They must be worried. I was a little bit nervous, though. Cat was my best friend, but I had never met her parents. Every time I picked her up, they weren´t home and whenever I suggested having a sleepover at hers, she said that she would rather do it at my place or do something else. I didn´t really think about it until now.

When I arrived at her house, I got out of the car, walked to the front door and rang the bell. It took a few seconds until I heard somebody get to the door.

A small woman with dark brown eyes opened it. She didn´t look very friendly.

"Hello. You have to be Cat´s Mum. Mrs. Valentine?" I tried to smile, like she didn´t stare me down.

"Yes. And who are you?" She asked with an eyebrow raised.

"My name is Tori Vega. I´m a friend of Cat." I informed her.

"Cat´s not home." She said and moved to close the door, but I stopped her.

"I know. That´s why I am here. Cat had an accident. She´s at the hospital." I carefully studied her face for any sign of emotion, but there were none.

"And?" She asked. Seriously? Her daughter is injured and she didn´t even care? This woman is worse than Trina.

"AND? What do you mean 'and'? You are her Mum! You´re supposed to visit her or at least ask how she is!" I said furious, but she didn´t even blink as I said that. What was wrong with this woman? Was Cat´s Dad this emotionless as well?

"Is your husband at home?" I asked and slipped past her through the door.

I stepped into a big living room, which was color empty, but modern. It looked nothing like I had expected it to look. In the middle of the room was standing a not so tall man with an unidentifiable expression on his face.

"Mr. Valentine, did you know that Cat had a surgical intervention?" I asked him and tried to discover any sign of feeling in his eyes.

"Caterina is hurt? What happened? Is she okay?" Now concern was mirrored on Cat´s Dad´s face. I turned around to look at Mrs. Valentine.

"See? This is how a parent should react." Then I answered Cat´s Dad. "She was hit by a surfer yesterday and like I said, she had an operation, but she is okay and going to wake up soon. I suggest that you are coming with me. I was driving back to the hospital and just stopped by to let you know what happened, since you didn´t came to visit her or anything. Haven´t you checked your mailbox?"

"Thanks and no we got a new telephone and it hasn´t been installed yet." He told me and added "Why don´t you get back to Cat? I´ll be coming, right after I finished some stuff for work."

"Okay. I´ll see you then Mr. Valentine." I looked at Cat´s Mum as I left. She still didn´t seem effected at all by the news. I shook my head in disbelief and hurried to get back to Cat.

When I entered the room A315 Cat was still asleep and Jade sat on the couch across the bed and seemed captured by a book with the title "the scissors case". I suspected it was a thriller. What else was Jade going to read? A tearjerker? I think not.

"Hey. Have I missed something?" I asked and unintentionally made Jade jump. I had to bite my lip, so I couldn´t laugh. "Did I scare you?"

"Oh shut up. And no, you didn´t miss anything." Jade said and looked back down at her book. Her indifferent tone in which she said it brought me to something I was curious about.

"Jade, have you ever met Cat´s parents?" I asked her.

"I saw them, once on a parents-teacher day, but I didn´t talk to them or anything." She told me, not looking up from her book. It looks like I wasn´t the only one, who Cat was keeping her parents from. I shrugged and sat on the chair beside Cat´s bed. I looked at her sleeping face.

_Wake up, _I thought. And she did. I smiled at her as she opened her eyes.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N I`m sorry that this chapter is a little bit shorter than the others, but I was in a hurry, because I can´t upload new chapters for the next 7 days, since I`m not at home and I didn`t want to make you guys wait too long. So... here it is and happy reading ;D**

**Chapter 5**

"Hey" I said and my lips turned into a smile.

"…hey" Cat´s voice was a little bit rough. She coughed.

"Oh… do you need some water… here." I snatched a cup of water that was standing on the little desk beside the bed.

"…thanks" She said, took a sip and looked around the room. It seemed like she tried to remember and her eyes went wide when she did. I grabbed her hand and tried to calm her down.

"It´s okay Cat. Everything`s okay."

"There was water and… a wave and a surfer. He was coming straight at me…" She started and I wanted to cut her off, but then she said something that startled me. "You saved me."  
How did she know that I was the one that carried her out of the water? She had been unconscious.

"Well, I didn`t really save you. The ambulance came a few moments after I got you out of the water." I explained. She shook her head.

"That`s not what I meant. I heard you, your voice. I held onto it. You told me not to leave you and not to die, so I didn´t." She said it like it was the simplest thing in the world and looked at me with her big brown eyes. She didn´t die, because I didn´t want her to, because I told her not to, because she didn´t want to leave me. And somehow that caused my belly to tingle.

I didn`t notice that we were gazing at each other, until Jade said something.

"Hey Cat. I`m glad you`re back under the living. We should probably tell the doctor that you´re awake." She smirked at Cat and pressed the button over her head. A few seconds later a nurse came through the open door.

"How are we feeling Miss Valentine?" She asked and smiled at the girl with the shining red hair.

"We… are fine. I guess. My head hurts a little bit…" Cat answered uneasy.

"That`s normal after an operation. We´ll just give you some painkillers. The doctor is coming and going to make a few tests. If everything is okay, there would be no reason to keep you here any longer and you could go home." She said, smiled at us once more and left the room.

"That sounds pretty good." A male voice that was coming from the door said. Mr. Valentine had heard what the nurse told us and entered the room. I gave him a warm smile.

"Dad." Cat looked alternately at her dad and me. She obviously wondered why I knew him.

"Hey Kitty." Her Dad said and I laughed. Kitty? Well, it kind of fit her. I looked at Cat and she blushed as she tried to explain.

"He calls me that since I was little. My Mum used to call me that too, but not anymore." She added sadly. I squeezed her hand slightly and asked.

"Why not?"

"I don´t know." She shrugged. "She just stopped calling me Kitty and started to call me Caterina."

I gave her Dad a questioning mien, but he just looked to the ground. Seemed like I had to have a face to face conversation with Mr. Valentine to find out what`s up with Cat`s Mum.

After a few seconds of silence Cat´s doctor came into the room to make the tests. Just a little bit looking here and a little bit touching there. Some more questions. Do you have a bitter taste on your tongue? Does your head hurt a lot? And some stupid questions. Can you remember your name? Age? And when he was done he said.

"It seems like everything is okay, but I am a little bit worried about your headache, so we are going to keep you here for just another night, for observation." The doctor stated and left the room.

Jade went home after she got a call from Beck. He wanted to see her. She left with a smile on her face. Cat´s Dad stayed for one hour. We chatted about trivial things until he wanted to know exactly what had happened on the beach. I tried to describe everything as precisely as possible.

"Looks like I have to thank you, Tori." He said after I finished my explanations.

"No, really it`s not a big deal. I`m sure that Beck and the others would have done the same. I was just quicker." I said blushing.

"If you say so, but I`m still grateful for what you did for my Kitty." He smiled at Cat when he said her nickname and she smiled back. "I would stay longer, if I could, but I have to head home and finish my work." Cat´s Dad stood up from his chair and kissed Cat on the forehead. "I´ll see you tomorrow." Then he looked at me and said.

"It was a pleasure to get to know you and you can come around our home whenever you feel like it." He shook my hand and went out of the room after he gave us another smile.

"I like your Dad." I said when he was gone. "Kitty." I added with a big smile. Cat rolled her eyes.

"You know he is the only one that is allowed to call me that and that´s just because he is my Dad." Kitty… I mean Cat told me. I gave her a fake pout.

"But I am your best friend!" I acted like I was upset, but she just grinned, knowing that it was played. Then her expression went anxious.

"Tori. Can you stay with me tonight? Please don´t go home. I don´t want to be alone in a big hospital. What if a monster hides under my bed and waits until you go home and then comes out and…"

"Don´t worry. There are no monsters and I would never go and leave you all alone in a big hospital." I cut her off. Cat sighed relieved and gave me a kiss on the cheek.

"You're the best." She said in her high pitched voice and her big brown eyes shone so bright that I almost forgot to breathe. My cheek burned where her lips had touched my skin and I realized that we were gazing at each other again, but unlike before, there was no one in the room that could pull us out of it. Cat leaned in and I swear she was about to kiss me, but…

"Good evening." A nurse was coming into the room and her voice made Cat and me straighten up. I managed a "good evening" and Cat gave her a "hey hey" that was kind of exaggerated.

"Are you still in pain? I can give you some painkillers if you think you need them." She asked nicely.

Cat shook her head.

"No my headache is gone, but thanks." She gave the nurse an optimistic smile, which then went off to her next patient.

"Damn!" Cat exclaimed after the nurse left. I looked at her with a questioning face. "Tomorrow is Monday. I`m going to miss school." I laughed. Only Cat would be annoyed about not needing to go to school.

"You could go if you want to. The doctor said that you have to stay overnight. That doesn´t mean you have to stay the day." I told her with a smile in my voice. Cat squealed and hugged me.

"Yey. That means we have to go to sleep. It´s already late and we don´t want to over sleep." Cat didn´t want to oversleep. I wouldn´t have a problem with ditching one day of school. I stood up and wanted to lie down on the couch, but Cat grasped my hand.

"No. I want to cuddle." She said, looking so childlike that I just couldn´t say no, not that I didn´t want to refuse anyway.

I crawled into the bed and under the blanket. Cat snuggled herself close to me, her head on my shoulder and our hands connected. On every sleepover we had, that´s how we went to sleep, but this time I just couldn´t get comfortable with it. Cat´s touch was like fire on my body and I was massively confused about myself. Why did she suddenly affect me like that? It was freaking me out.

This was going to be a long night…


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

It was dark and I had no idea how much time had passed, since Cat had fallen asleep, but I just couldn´t relax. I thought about slipping out of Cat´s firm grip and sleeping on the couch to get some rest, but Cat wouldn´t let go of me. I sighed. _Looks like it was going to be more difficult to stay awake in school tomorrow morning than it already would have been._ Cat mumbled something in her sleep and cuddled even closer than she already was. I could feel her breathe against my skin and had a weird sensation in my stomach. What was wrong with me? Cat didn´t have _this_ kind of effect on me. At least she normally didn´t. She didn´t make me feel like this. She wasn´t supposed to make me feel like this, like something only boys should make me feel like. I didn´t have a crush on Cat Valentine, did I? I wasn`t gay, or even bi-curious. And still… it kind of felt nice to have her that close. It always had felt good, but not… good like this.

Okay, I might admit that I had a tiny little girls-crush on my best friend. I wondered if she like liked me too. I mean she did kind of try to kiss me. Sort of, art of… did she? Maybe I was just starting to imagine things. Should I tell her? She`s my best friend. She would understand, right? But she was still Cat. What if she made a huge thing out of it and started to cry and I couldn`t even make her feel better and… Okay, telling her was not the best option. I should probably just keep it to myself. How hard could that be? Oh, who am I kidding? This was going to be really difficult. Cat was totally sensitive about everything, so why would it be different with this little secret?

Well, after all it was just a crush. It could go away in a few days or weeks, right? And I was not lying about it or anything. I was just keeping it to myself. As long as no one asked, I didn`t have to tell anybody. Let`s just hope that no one was going to ask…

I sighed again as I looked on my Pear-Phone. It was half past four. Great. I had two hours left to sleep, _if _I was ever going to actually fall asleep. At least I could watch Cat sleeping. I know that sounded creepy, but if you knew how adorable Cat looked when she slept, you would understand. She looked like a baby. Her childlike features were all cuddled up on me. She even had her mouth slightly open. I couldn`t help but smile. How could one person be so damn cute? That shouldn´t even be allowed, _it`s unfair_.

The more I thought about it, the more I wanted Cat to know how I felt about her. I mean yes, she was probably going to freak out and if Jade was ever going to find out about it, what she surely would, if Cat made a scene, I would be messed up pretty bad. But there was a tiny chance that Cat liked me too and that would just be… wonderful. Why the heck had life to be so complicated?

At the very moment when I decided that I would wait and not tell Cat right away that I was crushing on her, in case that the feelings would go away, I drifted into sleep.

When my alarm clock went off, it felt like I hadn`t slept at all, which was probably not that wrong. Cat didn`t seem disturbed by the loud noise. I really didn`t want to wake her up, or go to school by the way, but I knew that she hated to miss "important things like school", so I had to get her out of her sweet, peaceful world of dreams.

"Cat, Cutie, wake up." I gave her a kiss on the cheek, like I always did. The contact left a little sensation on my lips and caused a little bit more than a little sensation in my stomach. This time Cat woke up and looked at me with her usual sleepy expression, which she always had when she just woke up.

"Good morning." I smiled at her and she giggled.

"What makes you so happy?" She asked. It seemed like my smile came of a tiny bit overdone. I had to look like an idiot, grinning at her like this, but I couldn`t help myself. Cat just looked adorable this morning. Well, she always did, but me crushing on her made her look even more adorable in my eyes.

"I`m just happy to have you back." I said, so it was no lie. Cat made an "aww" like sound, hugged me closely and let go of me too soon.

"Okay now we have to get up. You can put some clothes on, while I`m getting your releasing papers from your doctor. You`re not in pain, are you? If you have a headache, you better tell me. You`re not going to school, if you`re in any kind of pain. Do you hear me?" I stated with a serious look on my face.

"Don´t worry, I´m fine. I wanna go to school." Cat pouted. I giggled at her expression.

"I´m going to search for the doctor. Get ready." I told her and left the room A315 and headed to the reception.

I was told that Cat´s doctor was in the OR, but it turned out that he had finished her releasing papers just this morning so there was no need to wait for him. I hurried back to Cat. When I entered the room she was nowhere in sight and she didn`t answer me, after I called for her twice. _That`s not good. No, no, no, no. Maybe she went to search for me. Cat could get lost in such a big hospital._ Just before my worries started to make me hyperventilate, my look fell on the door that was leading to the little bathroom that was connected to the main room. It was open.

Cat was standing in front of the mirror, starring at her mirror image. She had removed the white bandages that had been wrapped around her forehead and had covered a scar above her right eye.

"Cat? What`s wrong?" I asked her, still standing in the doorway. She pointed at her head, but kept silently looking at her reflection. I walked over to her, grabbed her hand and made her face me.

"That`s not a big deal. It`s just a small cut and going to heal swiftly." I promised her.

"It`s making me ugly." She said and looked like she was going to cry.

There was nothing that could make Cat Valentine ugly.

"Cat! That`s not true and you know it. You are beautiful and a stupid little scar isn`t going to change that." _Nothing_ could change that.

"You think I`m beautiful?" Cat asked, her voice still a little shaky.

"Yes, of course you are, beautiful beyond words and the loveliest girl I know." _Shut up Vega, so not the right time to make confessions. _I thought. _Oh, who asked you? I was just trying to cheer her up._

Cat smiled and before I could get lost into her shiny bright eyes, I said.  
"We don`t have to go to school, if you don`t want to. Otherwise we gotta hurry, ´cause we need to grab some things from home."

"No I want to go!" Cat was totally back to her cheerful self now. She whizzed through the room and picked up everything that belonged to her. Within half a minute, or less, she was ready to leave.

The car drive went by quickly, as always. Cat and I sang along with every single song, while Trina concentrated on the road. Since we didn`t have a car, I had to call Trina to pick us up, which she surprisingly did. She was kind of silent. Maybe she had a hangover from partying the whole weekend. That could be the reason why she kept flinching when the music got a little louder.

She dropped us of at our house, but didn`t mind to wait for us to get the things we needed. I had no problem with that at all. I preferred being alone with Cat anyway.

We had more time left than expected, so we decided to have a big breakfast.

"You have to be starving. The last time you ate something else than hospital food was Saturday morning." If you can even describe it as food.

"Hey, now I know why my tummy keeps making these weird noises." Cat`s stomach growled and she giggled. Oh, how I loved her giggles.

I made us some pancakes and Cat finished her portion in less than ten minutes. How was it possible that a tiny person like her could eat that much in such a short amount of time?

We still had more than enough time left, before our first period started, but we wanted to see Beck and the rest, so we headed to Hollywood Arts earlier than necessary. On the way to the car Cat walked in front of me and my gaze went down to her lower back… _Cat has a pretty nice ass… Stop starring at her like this! Gosh, you`re so hopeless._

Yep, seemed like that`s what I was. Hopelessly falling for my best friend.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

When Cat and me reached the school, I saw that Beck`s and André`s cars were already standing in the parking lot. I assumed Jade would be here too, since she almost always got to Hollywood Arts with Beck. It turned out that I had been right. As we entered the school building Beck and Jade were making out at her locker and André was standing nearby, talking to a girl with a bright smile on his face. When he saw Cat and me, he walked over to us.

"Hey Toro, hey little Red! Guess what!"

"Cupcakes!" Cat screamed and I smiled at her adorableness.

"You got a date with that hot girl, you just talked to?" I stated the obvious.

"Yeah! And she`s not just hot, she`s a freaking DJ!" He was grinning from ear to ear. "Has something interesting happened to you, while I didn`t see you?"

_I found out that I am crushing on a girl, who just happens to be my best friend, and I am trying to keep it to myself AND I have a hard time not gripping her and kiss her right in front of you._

"No, not much." I said "I practically spent my weekend in a hospital. There`s not much that happens in hospitals." I added sarcastically and winked at him.

"Oh right. Cat how are you?" He asked anxiously.

"I`m fine. Don`t worry." She smiled and it took my breath away.

"Hey guys!" Beck called from across the hallway, grabbed Jade`s hand and ran toward us. "How`s Cat? Is she okay? Cat, how are you feeling?" It was kind of cute how everybody was worried about her. Cat just did that to people around her. When you get to know her and begin to like her, you start to want to protect her. I was glad that no one seemed to take notice of Cat`s scar, that she had been so worried about.

"Really guys! I`m fine!" She insisted.

In that moment Robbie and Rex entered the school. When Robbie spotted Cat, he instantly asked, if she was okay and Rex added an unhelpful "How`s the chick". Cat looked like she was going to blow up.

"Okay! I think that Cat has had enough of questions today. How about we talk about something else?" Cat gave me a thankful look and I immediately felt warm inside.

After that we talked about casual things, a new school play was coming up and Beck wanted to try out for it, André told us everything he knew about the female DJ and Robbie said that he had to spend the next weekend with his scary uncle in Boston. So far everything seemed normal, except that I just couldn`t keep my eyes of Cat. I watched her every movement, her smiles, her laughs and her giggles, until the bell chimed and tipped me out of my trance.

First lesson was Sickowitz. I was always looking forward to his classes. Even though, or maybe because, he was crazy, Sickowitz was my favorite and the best teacher at Hollywood Arts, and I knew that most of the students felt exactly the same way.

When we stepped into the classroom Robbie, who was trying to tell us a joke, stopped in the middle of his sentences and his mouth fell open. We turned into the direction he was looking in and spotted Sickowitz. Or probably not Sickowitz. The man, who was standing on the little stage in the front of the room -yes we had a stage in our classroom- wore a suit with a white shirt and a tie, his hair was not messy at all and he didn`t look a bit insane. My gaze went up and down and up and down and up and down and… Yep it was Sikowitz. He didn`t wear any shoes or socks. I almost laughed. He seemed nearly normal. Nearly.

André was the first to ask what everyone wanted to know.

"What up with the outfit and where`s your coconut? Don`t you wanna get your visions or whatever?"

"Like you can all see, I am well-dressed this fine morning." Sickowitz started. "And like you all can imagine, there is a reason for this." The whole class looked at him in expectation.

"Well? What IS the reason?" Jade asked, after he didn`t appear to continue.

"I am glad, you asked, my dear Jade. I, your teacher and friend, am going to be given a prize for having teached the most successful artists in Hollywood!"

The class applauded loudly as Sickowitz bowed a few times.

"Aren`t you going to wear shoes?" Cat asked innocently.

"There indeed is a dress-code, but to my personal pleasure, nobody said anything about footwear." He grinned widely at us and we smiled back at him. That was just typically Sickowitz.

"Now back to important things." He said as we all sat down again, giving us a serious look. "How was your weekend?"

Cat immediately bounced in her seat, raising her hand.

"Pick me! Pick me! Please!" She called. _So adorable._

"Cat! What do you want to tell us?"

"I got hit by a surfer and Tori saved me." _So adorable… What did she just say?_

I blushed, because the whole class was looking at me, including Sickowitz.

"I-I-I just carried her out of the water." I stuttered.

"Mhm… That sounds pretty interesting and dramatic." Sickowitz clapped into his hands and shouted. "Cat! Tori! Up on the stage! We want to see exactly what happened. You two are going to show us with the help of a scene. It is really important for an actor to remember dramatic things that happen in their lives, so they can use their experiences to develop their acting… And I am curious."

Cat stood up and pulled me on stage with her.

"Since we don`t have a beach or the sea in here, we have to imagine it. Students!" He talked to the class now. "Imagine! Beach, water, sun, wave rushing. Believe that you are there! Aaaaand action!"

I didn`t need time to get in character, since it was myself who I had to play, but I still took a second to get into the scene. I lied down on the "beach", closed my eyes and waited for Cat to scream.

Cat`s shriek made half of the class jump in their seats. I straightened up, opened my eyes wide as if I was in shock and saw Cat falling down onto the stage, remaining still. I leaped up and ran to Cat`s side of the stage, keeping my shocked and worried expression. I easily picked her up and carried her a few steps away from where she had lied. I laid her down, carefully, so I wouldn`t hurt her. I shouted for help, like I did on Saturday, and I pressed my hand against her forehead to stop the non-existent bleeding. The memories that kept flowing back into my head when I looked at Cat`s soft face made it very easy for me to start crying. I let the tears stream down my face. "Please, Cat... Don´t die… Don´t leave me… Don´t do this to me." I begged and didn`t have to make my voice tremble with every word I said. In progress, I started to cry even harder as I thought about what Cat said to me, after she woke up, that my voice made her stay. "Don`t die… Don`t die… Don`t die…" I sobbed and caressed her cheek with my hand.

And that was when Cat suddenly jumped up and ran out of the classroom, crying. At first I was, well dazzled, but I hurried off the stage and chased after her.

I found her in the janitor closet. She was sitting on the floor with her head in her hands and I could hear her sniffles.

"Cat, what`s wrong?" I asked her softly, sat down beside her and touched her shoulder. She instantly threw her arms around me and I let her lay her head in the crook of my neck. I didn`t know how long we stayed like this, but when Cat finally stopped crying, she told me what had upset her so much.

"I-I-I d`nt no that is –aso ho-ho-horrible." It was kind of hard for me to understand her, but I managed to make some sense out of it. (I didn`t know that it was so horrible.)

"Oh Cat. It`s over now and you don`t have to feel bad about something that`s in the past." I hugged her closer. _Maybe I had cried a tiny little bit too much, but that`s how it had been._

"I`m sorry." Cat whispered.

"What do you mean, you`re sorry?" I asked confused.

"I`m sorry that I made you worry and sad and cry." _How cute was that?_

"It`s okay. It wasn`t your fault." I assured her.

"Yes, it was. I should have watched out, but I didn`t see this boy on the surfboard coming. I could have jumped out of the way." She mumbled.

"Maybe, but it`s still not your fault. It was an accident, Cat. Things like that happen and that`s no one`s fault." I tried to explain.

"You think so?" She looked up at me and the way her eyes sparkled made my heart race.

"Ye-Yeah, of course." I breathed and added "We should probably get back to Sickowitz` lesson." I helped her get up and in the moment she took my hand, my skin started to tingle. _This is ridiculous! I have had boyfriends before and they had never ever made me feel this affected by simply touching my hand._

I sighed quietly, so Cat couldn`t hear me while we walked back to our classroom.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

When Cat and I entered the classroom, it was empty. _Weird, I haven`t even heard the bell ring._ Next lesson was history. I used to hate that subject at my old school, but here at HA everything is different. Teachers actually try to make us interested in what they tell us. I love history now, because of that. Or maybe, because the topics at this school are more like: Which artist had the most influence on acoustic music? And not: When did the United States become an independent nation?

Anyway, although I really liked history, I didn`t quite feel like joining the lesson today. I need more time to think.

"Hey Cat. I think I am going to ditch. I know you don`t want to, though. You should hurry to your class." I informed her and pointed at the clock that was hanging on the wall over the door. Her eyes went wide in the cute way that they always did when Cat was whether surprised or shocked. In this case I think it was a little bit of both. She gave me a quick hug and ran out of the door.

After I made sure that there were no teachers in the corridors, I headed to the back of the school, where my friends and I always had lunch. I sat down on our usual table, determined to make some decisions or at least to think about something to make decisions about, when a close voice startled me.

"Vega, Vega. I never thought about you as an absentee. I bet this is the first time you are playing truant." I knew it was Jade even before I turned around to see her provoking face.

"And I bet that is like _your_ one hundredth time?" I said sarcastically.

"You got that right." Jade grabbed the chair beside me. We just sat there in silence for a while, until Jade decided to speak up again.

"I am just going to ask you something and you better tell me the truth." She looked me in the eyes, completely serious. "Do you love Cat?" I opened my mouth to deny it, but Jade cut me off instantly. "Don`t even bother to lie. I can see the way you are acting around her." She gave me a knowing look. "You always smile without an actual reason, you watch her all the time and you are pretty protective about her."

"If you are so sure, why are you asking?" I countered, trying to avoid a real answer.

"Don`t play that game with me Vega. Answer my question! Are you in love with Cat?" Jade said calm but still demanding. I wanted to keep it to myself. Why did she have to be so observant? Why couldn`t she just ignore it? And why the hell did Jade West have to be the first one to find out?

"Fine! Yes I love her! She drives me crazy! Are you happy now? Go and tell everyone that I`m gay! Have fun!" I yelled at her, storming of in the direction of my next class.

"Tori! Wait!" Jade shouted after me. That made me stop in my tracks instantly. It wasn`t just that it was the first time she had ever called me by my first name, it was also the way she said it, someway apologetic and also caring.

"I`m sorry that was kind of rude, but I had to make sure that you are serious about your feelings for Cat." She explained.

"Why do you even care? It`s not like you ever considered us to be friends or anything." I asked her accusingly.

"Yeah I think I have to change that, now that I`m completely sure that you are not after Beck. And this is another reason why I want to apologize to you. I have been really mean to you since you came to this school and you have absolutely no motive to forgive me, but you should know that I am seriously sorry and I am not going to get you out of the closet, I promise and a Jade West keeps her promises." A Jade West may keep her promises, but she normally does not apologize for anything, at all. I was completely stunned by what she just said and couldn`t even respond. When I didn`t say anything she added. "If you want I could talk to Cat for you and… I don`t know… ask her if she likes you too?"

"No, please don`t. That`s something I have to do myself. I`m just waiting for the right moment to tell her…" I rejected her offer, shaking my head and looking to the ground.

"Have you told your parents yet?" Jade asked.

I led out a groan. "Thanks for bringing that up. That was actually something that I haven`t thought about until now. Besides I have just found out about it myself." My shoulders slumped.

"Well you don`t have to tell them. It`s nobody else`s business, if you don`t want it to be. Just tell them, when you are ready to tell them." Jade said and gave me a smile that I oddly returned. "But I`m pretty sure that they will have their suspicions, when they _hear _the first time Cat`s staying over at your place."

"Jade!" I yelled. I could not believe that she was teasing me with Cat already. "Just so you know. Cat has already stayed over at mine, just not the way _you_ stay over at _Beck`s_." I countered, but unlike the glare that I would have earned a few hours ago, Jade laughed.

"Don`t expect me to be nice like this to you when we are around people. I have an image to keep." She said, only half serious.

"It would be weird if it was like this all the time." I tried to say without a smile, but failed miserably.

After that we started to chat like normal friends would do, until Jade told me how late it was by now.

"If you don`t want to ditch your next lesson too, you should head to class."

"Yeah, you`re right." "I always am, but thanks for pointing it out." We laughed.

"See you later?" I said, but it sounded more like a question and that made Jade grin.

"Sure Tori. I think I feel like attending my next lessons, so we most likely happen to see each other at lunch." Jade stood up and went into the opposite direction.

I hurried out of my music-technic class, because there was a good chance that my teacher would decide to give us more homework than he already did. This assignment about film music alone was going to take me days to get done with. I chose to not let my mind get too covered with stuff like homework, and concentrated on one little thing that made me happy: Just a few minutes and I was going to see Cat. I walked a little faster and as soon as shiny red hair came into my view, my lips turned up into a bright smile. All of my friends were already sitting at our table. Cat was sitting with her back to me, while Jade was facing my direction and rolling her eyes, because of my obvious and unsubstantiated happiness. They all mumbled their hellos.

"Hey Tori." Jade said with as much of disinterest as possible, but alone the fact that she didn`t call me Vega made everyone look up from their lunch and raising their eyebrows. In contrast to all of their questioning expressions, everyone remained silent, except for Cat that is. She turned around and gave me a big smile along with a soft "hi". I hugged her from behind and took a seat beside her.

"How are you? Have you been in any pain in the last few hours?" I whispered in her ear, so nobody else could overhear me. I knew that my question would just bring up the discussion of today`s morning, if I said it loud enough for our friends to hear and I was one hundred percent sure that Cat wouldn`t like that.

"Nothing to worry about. I feel great." Cat informed me equally quiet. I looked at her closely. She didn`t seem to be hurting and I don`t believe that she would lie to me about it. After I was done checking on Cat, I entered the conversation about Andre`s date that he was so excited about. Or at least I tried to, but I couldn`t really concentrate, since my eyes just kept on wandering to Cat`s lovely face…


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

_**I am truely sorry for the long wait... I had some personal stuff going on, but hey here it is :) and I promise that the next chapter won`t take me so long. Viel Spaß beim Lesen eure Just ;)**_

* * *

Or at least I tried to, but I couldn`t really concentrate, since my eyes just kept on wandering to Cat`s lovely face…

Then I got a text message.

**Jade:**_ If u keep staring like that u r going 2 drool :P_

**Tori: **_Am not! Y don't u concentrate on Beck? Or m I more interesting ^^_

**Jade: **_u r at least way more entertaining 2 watch. Ur goofy grin is hilarious xD_

I glared at her over the table, but had to restrain myself from laughing.

**Jade: **_When do u think is the right moment?_

**Tori: **_I dunno…_

**Jade: **_Then y don't u just create 1?_

**Tori: **_What do u mean, create 1?_

**Jade: **_Ask her if she wants 2 stay over at ur house 2night, then u can tell her._

I thought about that for a while. It was actually not a bad idea. Trina was always out till way after midnight, because our parents usually don't come home from work before sunrise. They frequently had to work nightshifts. That's why we don't get to see them very often under the week. So Cat and me would be alone and no one could interrupt our conversation.

**Jade: **_Hello! Earth 2 Vega!_

**Tori:**_ Really? U r calling me Vega again?_

**Jade:**_ TORI would u mind telling me what`s going on in ur head?_

**Tori: **_I think u r right. I m going to have a sleepover with Cat._

**Jade: **_Yeah u r telling me that I m right a lot lately. But hey I m not complaining ;)_

I rolled my eyes at her arrogance.

When the bell rang I grabbed Cat´s hand before she could stand up and waited for the others to be out of earshot before I talked.

"Do you want to have a sleepover again tonight? I am pretty sure that we would be alone and that means that we could have a pillow fight through the whole house." I did my best to tempt her, but that wasn`t even necessary. By the word "sleepover" her face had already lightened up and when I mentioned the pillow fight she was dancing with excitement.

"Yey! I love sleepovers!" I tell you, she practically sang it. _So adorable. _"But we gotta drop by at my house. I need to get something."

"What do you need to get? You already have lots of things at my place." No kidding. Cat has just about half a cupboard full of things that belong to her at my house.

"You`ll see." She smiled. _Great, now I am curious as hell._

"Argh… You know I hate surprises." I pouted like a little child.

"No, you love them. I know you better than you do." Cat laughed. I loved Cat`s laugh, it always sounded like a little child was laughing. It sounded real. Some people had these awful fake laughs, but Cat didn`t. Cat never faked anything. She was the most honest person I knew.

"Ca-ha-ha-t! Please tell me!" I begged exaggeratedly.

"Not a chance." Cat grinned. "And now come on, we need to get to class." I just smiled, because she was still holding my hand, and led myself be dragged in school by my favorite little redhead.

Later in the car, Cat was bouncing up and down in her seat.  
"Can we make cupcakes again?" She asked with shiny eyes.

"We can do whatever you want, Sweetie" I told her. I was going to give her anything she liked, to get her in a good mood, before I`d tell her about my feelings.

"Yey!" She called and crushed me into a tight hug. The electricity that was flowing through my body in this moment was breathtaking. Thank godthat I was a good driver.

"Cat. I`m trying to drive." I said, suppressing my smile.

"Oh, sorry." She muttered and turned her head to look out of the window to hide her blush, but I saw it anyway.

"So, here we are. Grab whatever you need to grab." I said as we drove into her driveway.

"Kay kay!" Cat squealed and hopped out of the car.

I was deep in thoughts when a light knock on the car window made me jump. I looked up and was surprised to see Mr. Valentine. I got out of the car and greeted him. "Hello… Uhm I hope you don`t mind Cat spending the night at my place again?"

"No, not at all. Caterina looks the happiest when she gets back home after she was with you. To tell the truth, a few months back she was not the cheerful girl that she is now. At least not at home. Not without reasons of course." He looked really sad as he said that. "You see, my wife is the kind of person who likes to tell what`s on her mind without really thinking that what she is saying might hurt somebody. A few years ago she and Caterina had an argument about the Hollywood Arts casting. Caterina wanted to attend this school so badly, but her mother wouldn`t let her. When she asked for the reason my wife said that she was too weak for the pressure and that she would have a hard time to find friends at a new school, because of her weird personality-."

"Cat doesn`t have a weird personality!" I screamed.

"I know," He continued calmly. "but that`s what my wife said and that practically crushed my little girl, to hear something like that from her own mother… Well, Caterina auditioned without my wife`s permission, got accepted at Hollywood Arts and also found a lot of new friends, but she never really made up with her mother and when she came home from school she would go right into her room. You could tell that she wasn`t happy in her own home."

"Not to be rude or anything… but why are you telling me this?" I asked.

"Because Tori, since Caterina knows you she comes home with a smile and the more she spent time with you the more her smile lasted. You gave me my happy little girl back." Mr. Valentine smiled warmly at me. I didn`t quite know what to say to all of this, but I didn`t have to. Cat was walking towards us with a big smile.

"I`m ready!" She said enthusiastically, while jumping into my arms and my heart started to beat a lot faster than it should. When Cat led go of me, there was a big smile on my face too.

"Have fun and don`t stay up too long, it`s a school night." Mr. Valentine said, but he winked, which made it not sound so strict.

"Thanks Mr. Valentine." I said smiling.

"I think I am the one who has to thank you." He winked again and Cat looked at us questioningly, but didn`t say anything.

She shrugged her shoulders and gave her Dad a kiss on the cheek. "I love you, Dad."  
"I love you too, Kitty." He responded as if they were doing this every time they parted. It was really sweet. When Cat saw me grin at them she blushed a little, which was just too cute to describe.

Mr. Valentine went back into the house and left Cat and me alone in front of my car.

"So… What did you need to get?" I asked her still curious.

"I`m not going to tell you, yet." She said teasingly.

"Oh come on Cat! Just tell me! I really wanna know!" I whined and pouted just like she often did when she wanted to know something.

"Don`t be so impatient. You`re acting like a little child." She laughed. Her cuteness made me stare, but not long, because I registered what she had just said.

"Look who`s talking. Kitty!" I said and nudged her shoulder.

"Oh shut up!" She yelled, but she was still laughing.

"Maybe we should head home so we can actually start the sleepover." I suggested with a bright smile and opened the car door for her.

I hopped into the driver`s seat and in less than 10 minutes we were at my place. We were lucky that there had been little traffic. When I parked in the driveway I was glad that Trina`s car was nowhere in sight. She even left a post-it at the front door saying that she wouldn`t come home tonight and that I shouldn`t wait up on her. _As if I would._

"What do you want to do first? Bake cupcakes, watch movies, have a pillow fight?" I asked my little redhead. We were lying on the couch in the living room… Well _**I**_ was lying, Cat was kind of… I don`t know… She was sort of sitting… just the other way around… she had her legs stretched over the backrest and her head was pointing at the floor.

"First of all we need to get into our PJs. You can`t call it a pajama-party, if you aren`t in your pajamas." Cat stated.

"What if I call it a sleepover instead?" I laughed at her confused expression. "Okay then let`s get our PJs."

A few minutes later we were "sitting" on the couch again. I was looking at Cat, still upside down on the couch, and thought about how cute she looked in her pink cupcake top and her matching shorts and couldn`t keep myself from smiling. I was a little nervous about telling her how much I liked her, though. From what her Dad told me, there was a good chance that she liked me too, but if she didn`t, it would be horrible. Not just for me, but also for her. _If she loses me as her best friend, she might become unhappy again. Maybe I should wait for some hints…_ My gaze wandered to her face and I blushed as I realized that she was looking at me. I could still see her grin, even though I looked away quickly. "What movies do you want to watch?" I asked to distract her, even though I already knew the answer.

"A Disney movie!" She cheered.

"Again?" I laughed when Cat moved from her side of the couch towards mine and started to pout.

"Pretty please?" She said it in her adorable childlike voice that I loved so much.

"Mmh… I don`t know…" I acted like I had to think about it. What she did next stunned me completely. She leaned in and whispered in my ear… "Pretty please." But not in the usual Cat Valentine voice, it was rough and hot and sexy… and it sent shivers down my spine…

* * *

_**I hope you liked it ^^  
Reviews would be welcomed ;)**_


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

_**Since I promised to update my next chapter sooner than usual, I did ;D Here it is  
Viel Spaß beim Lesen eure Just :D**_

* * *

"Pretty please." Her voice drove me crazy. How could someone as innocent as Cat make you feel _this way _just by talking?

I guess she was just messing around, because the next second she was back to sweet little Cat and grinning at me.

"Tease." I tried to say it as jokingly as I could manage, but my voice still trembled a little bit. "Well, which Disney movie do you want to watch then?" Cat`s smile grew bigger.

"I don`t know yet. Why don`t we make the cupcakes first? Then we can watch while they are in the oven." She suggested. She didn`t wait for an answer, though. Instead of that, she just grabbed my hand and led me into the kitchen. Cat had been over at my house often enough to know where all the stuff was. I sat down on the kitchen table and watched her. I would help her with the baking, but the thing was, when it came to cupcakes Cat didn`t accurately _need _any help. She just whizzed around and within 2 minutes they were ready to be put in the oven. Yes, I said 2 minutes. Cat used to make cupcakes _every day_ when she was 9 for about 3 or 4 months. When she first told me about it, I didn`t believe her, but then she _showed _me and I couldn`t imagine her lying. It still was kind of fascinating to watch her do it.

Once Cat was finished she hopped next to me on the table. "Have you decided what you want to watch?" I asked her.

"Yes I want to watch _Arielle_ first and then either _Lady and the Tramp_ or _Peter Pan_." She told me with a smile. I nodded with a grin and went in the living room to search for the DVDs.

"You got to tell me sometimes what you think is so fascinating about these Disney movies." I said to her. Cat had followed me and was sitting on the couch by now. And yes, this time she was actually sitting.

"You mean you don`t think they are?" She furrowed her eyebrows.

"No, that`s not what I meant. I think they are amazing, but I still want to know what **you **think is so interesting about them." I gave her a big smile that she returned immediately.

"Well, that`s easy!" She stated cheerily. "What I like about _Arielle_ is that there are mermaids and underwater animals, everybody loves mermaids and fishes are cute. And Arielle is really pretty."

"You know she looks a lot like you, with the red hair and the prettiness." I said and made Cat blush. "So is she your favorite Disney character then?" I asked her curiously. I still hadn`t found the DVDs, yet. _Trina must have put them somewhere._

"No, Mulan is my favorite." That answer surprised me a little bit.

"Mulan? Really, why?" I wanted to know.

"Because she is brave and strong." Cat explained with an adorably serious expression on her face. "Most of the other Disney girls just let themselves be saved, but Mulan did all of it herself." Cat did kind of have a point. What a smart little girl she was.

"What do you like about _Lady and the Tramp_?" I still couldn`t find those stupid DVDs. _Where the hell are they?_

"I just love the idea that animals can fall in love. Oh and I love dogs. They are so fluffy and cute and they always run after things that you throw for them." She laughed and I screamed "Yes!"

"What is it?"

"I found the DVDs." I smiled at her as I put Arielle into the DVD player and hopped onto the couch. Cat snuggled herself into my arms the second I was next to her and it made my heart a jump.

I couldn`t concentrate on the movie at all. Cat kept cuddling closer and making circles at my back with her fingers. She had done that a lot of times during our past sleepovers, but this time I had to concentrate to keep my breathing at a normal rate. I nearly sighed when I heard the oven-beep, which told us that the cupcakes were ready.

I hopped of the couch and got the cupcakes while Cat was singing along to _Kiss the girl_. I got them out of the oven and put them on the counter to cool off so we could eat them. I nearly burned my fingers, though. Cat`s singing was… well, kind of distracting…

We had finished watching _Arielle _and were half way through _Lady and the Tramp _by the time Cat fell asleep. I quietly switched off the TV and carefully carried her up to my room, where I laid her down on my bed. It was a good thing that we had already washed and made ourselves ready for bed before we started the second movie, because I wouldn`t have the nerve to do it now. I just settled down in bed beside her and pulled the blanket over us. I shifted myself so that I could see Cat`s face. She looked so cute when she was asleep, not that she didn´t look cute all the time, but when she was sleeping it was nearly overwhelmingly cute. I sighed. _I should have told her. I am such a coward. This whole sleepover was there to tell her that I like her more than a friend and I am too chicken to speak up. Jade is going to mock me in the ground tomorrow…_ As my thoughts kept wandering, my glance fell on Cat`s lips. They looked so delicious. _I wonder how they taste…_ I thought and licked my own. _No Tori, keep it together. _My view drifted back to Cat`s eyes and I was startled to see them open. Cat was looking at me with an expression I could not quiet perceive, but it made my heart rate go up like mad.

And suddenly she was on top of me, pinning me down on my bed. This look, it made me crazy. I tried to keep my cool, but I had a hard time trying to breathe slowly and not ripping off her clothes. _No, bad Tori! Stop thinking like this! Since when do you have such a pervert mind? Pervert? SHE is the one on top of me! OH MY GOSH! Cat is on top of me!_ She leaned down to my ear, her cheek touching mine, and whispered. "I can hear your heart beat, Tori." I had never heard anything sexier in my whole life than Cat`s voice right in this moment. She moved her head just a little bit, so she could look straight at me. I stared into her chocolate brown eyes and was shocked to see that all her innocence was gone, replaced by blazing fire.

She leaned even closer, her lips hardly away from mine, her voice merely a breath. "I know you want me, Tori. I can see it in your eyes that you crave to kiss me." My whole body trembled as my skin felt the cool air that was coming out of her mouth. It smelled like my toothpaste, spearmint, but there was something else… strawberries?

I could not hold myself back any longer. I pressed my lips against hers. They tasted so sweet, so much better than any boy`s lips that I had ever kissed and I had never felt this kind of sensation while kissing a boy. I was entirely on fire and there was electricity running through my body like crazy. Kissing a girl was amazing. Kissing _**Cat **_was amazing. I moaned quietly against her lips, my hands searching their way under her top, finally touching bare skin. Cat`s skin was so soft, s_o soft._ I could feel her her heart beat against mine.

Our lips parted, just a moment to take off our shirts and to look each other in the eyes. Both of us smiled into our next kiss and our bodies were filled with lust as our tongues met…

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_**Let me know what you think and how you would want it to continue :)  
I am open to any ideas ^^... well maybe not **_**any,_ but I am open to hear them at least ;)_**


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

_**Hey guys sorry for the long wait ^^ I know, I know. I am just so incredibly lazy... I actually had quite a bit of a chapter ready a few weeks ago BUT THEN someone posted a review with an interesting idea in it and I just deleted everything I had cause I thought it would be better the way it is now :)  
Thank you Jakarie :D**_

_**Oh yeah, before you start reading this chapter you might wanna take a look at the Oneshot Slumber-Party that I have written with a lot of help. I didn`t want to add it to this story, `cause it`s rated M. ^^**_

_**So here you go ;)  
Viel Spaß beim Lesen, eure Just :D**_

* * *

"Mhm Cat... Cat..." I moaned and was shaken awake by an utterly confused looking redheaded girl.

"Tori, wake up." I opened my eyes and blushed in cognition. _Oh come on! A dream? Seriously?_

"G-good morning." I stuttered and noticed that it was still kind of dark, maybe not even dawn. There was no light that was coming through my window, only a little lamp on my bedside table that Cat must have switched on. I was pretty sure we didn`t sleep for more than a few hours.

Cat just smirked, which made me say something more, just to avoid the silence that surely would have followed, if I hadn`t said anything else. "Did I wake you?" I sat up and sit-layed against my pillow, still with a red face.

"Nooo... but your groans and moans and sighs did." She giggled and I went even redder than I had already been.

"I-I..." I started to speak, but couldn`t really think of anything that would make this situation less embarrassing for me. Cat just smiled at me.

"So? You wanna tell me something?" She asked as innocently as a little kid would, with bright eyes, wide smile and a hint of a pout. I stared at her chocolate-brown eyes.

"W-what?" I totally did not get what she just said.

"I said, do you want to tell me something?" She made this little giggle noise again. _There´s your chance! Just tell her for heaven`s sake!_ I took a deep breath. And another one. And another one, another one, another one..._ Oh no, don`t you dare hyperventilating now! _I face-slapped me inwardly.

"I love you." I said and sheepishly looked down at my bedcover.

"I know." Cat said matter-of-factly. "I love you too." I sighed desperately.

"No, that`s not what I meant. I don`t love you like a friend loves a friend..." I bit my lower lip as I said the next thing. "I am in love with you Cat."

When she didn`t say anything I looked up, afraid to see an upset expression on her face, but instead of dismay or terror, I saw that a huge grin was stretched across her face. _A smile! She is smiling! This is good right? Right? Wait... why am I asking myself?_

"You are not upset?" I asked hesistantly.

"Are you kidding me?" She laughed and threw herself into my arms. "What the heck took you so long? It`s been killing me."

"What? You mean you _knew_?!" I half-shouted out of astonishment.

"Well no, it`s just that I have like liked you for... a lot longer." Cat`s voice subsided at the end of her sentence.

"How long is a lot longer?" I asked curious about the answer, but Cat was too busy blushing to give me one. "Cat?"

"I don`t know _exactly_ when I started, but I kind of had a crush on you since... the big showcase?" _That IS a lot longer._

"CAT! Why didn`t you tell me?"

"I`m sorry, but what was I supposed to say? Hey my name`s Cat, I think you`re the prettiest girl I have ever seen and I have a huge crush on you?" I smiled at her excitement. Cat was so cute when she was excited.

"Did you just say I am pretty?" I grinned at her.

"No I said that you are _the prettiest._" She took my hand and gave me a soft smile. I didn`t even realize that we were both leaning in. When our heads were only inches away from each other Cat said. "Can I ask you something?"

"Anything." I answered quickly, which made her smile grow a little wider.

"Can I kiss you?" She asked, uncertain and nervous. I suppressed an "_aww"_-like noise. Her insecurity was just too adorable. I nodded instead of giving her an actual answer, afraid that my voice might fail. Was I excited? As hell, but I leaned in closer anyway.

When Cat`s lips touched mine I was not surprised to have exactly the same sensation I had had in my dream. Her lips were really soft and the touch made my stomach turn upside down, jump and turn back up multiple times.

"_Wow_" Cat breathed when we parted. Her eyes remained closed.

"'Wow' doesn`t even cover it." I grinned at her statement and kissed her again. It started out slowly and softly, but quickly became more passionate.

The only reason why we stopped, was because we were both running out of breath.

Cat and I didn`t go to sleep again. We just layed in my bed, shared sweet kisses every now and then and cuddled until my alarm clock went off.

"Do we really have to go to school?" I groaned and made her giggle against my shoulder.

"Yes, you can`t just ditch whenever you feel like it." She said with an only half serious expression.

"Don`t you think that today is a special occasion?" I smiled widely and quickly kissed her on the lips, which made her giggle again.

"Maybe, but don`t you want to tell our friends about... us?" Cat said and hopped off the bed. I didn`t really know, _IF _we should tell anyone, to be honest. It`s not that I wasn`t sure about my feelings for Cat - or the other way around by the way - but I knew that people tend to not except things that are different and I didn`t want Cat to get bullied or anything like that. I knew that Jade would probably trash anyone who dared to offend Cat, but it would hurt her feelings anyway.

"What are you thinking?" Cat asked, raising one of her eyebrows.

"It`s just that... Do you really think we should tell anyone? I mean people can be really mean Cat... What if they don`t except us?" I told her.

"Are you kidding me?" Cat started laughing. "We are not going to a stupid stereotyped school, where everyone who is different gets mobbed. We are students of Hollywood Arts. Everyone there _is_ different." She kind of had a point there and I already knew that at least one of our friends would certainly be okay with it.

"You should know that someone already knows something." I informed her, while getting of the bed. "Jade sort of found out that I like you, because s-."

"Jade _knew_?! She is _so_ going to die!" Cat freaked out.

"What`s wrong? I thought we wanted to tell our friends anyway?" I asked confused.

"It`s not about that. Jade didn`t just know about _you_ liking _me_, but also about _me _liking _you_!" Cat looked furious. _That bitch. Acting like she doesn`t know a thing, when she knows _everything_! She is so going to get that back._

"Cat calm down." I took her hand and a smile was playing around my lips. "Do you feel like having a little acting exercise?"

* * *

"Good morning Jade." I said in a sad and mournful sound.

"What`s up with you? Not that I care, but I am curious." Jade asked, but without her usual indifferent facial expression. I made a face like my pet died and let a few tears escape. When I threw myself into Jade`s arms I completely startled her. _I would pay thousands of dollars to take a picture of her right now._

"S-she said she didn`t li-hi-ke me like tha-hat. She said that I-I should stay awa-hay from her." I sobbed into her shoulders.

"What? That`s not possible. Why would she do that?" I can`t tell you, how much I enjoyed the very confused face of Jade, at which I was currently looking. It was priceless!

"Well I guess she is just not into girls..." I said, now a little bit calmer, but I still tried to look like I was going to burst into tears again any moment.

"Where is she? I need to talk to her." Jade said befuddled.

"She went straight to class after she got out of my car." I sniffed and Jade stormed off to Sickowitz`s classroom.

I followed her silently laughing and stopped at the door, but she couldn`t see me, since her back was directed at me.

"Cat!" Jade screamed. "What is wrong with you? Why the heck did you reject Tori? I thought you were hopelessly in love with her or whatever." Cat was sitting in the front row of the class and turned around.

"What are you talking about? I only like Tori as a friend." Cat stated perplexed.

"Are you freaking kidding me?!" Jade cried out. "Since you have seen Tori for the first time, you wouldn`t shut up about her being the love of your life or something like that... and and you would be in heaven every time she would just look at you with a smile! And now you tell me that she`s just your friend after she told you how she has feelings for you that are way over the friendzone-line?"

Cat just nodded.

"_Are you freaking kidding me_?!" Jade shouted again. That was the moment when I stepped into the classroom.

"Aww. Really? That`s what you said?" I grinned, walked over to Cat and gave her a quick peck on the lips. Cat smiled back at me. We both looked at Jade who seemed like she had lost us completely.

"W-What?" She stuttered and sat down on the chair next to her.

"Oh Jade, you should see your face!" Cat started to laugh uncontrolable. I stood behind her and layed my hands on her hips, smiling widely at Jade.

"How does it feel when someone plays with you?" I grinned. Although she didn`t tell me that Cat already told her that she was in love with me by the time we talked yesterday, I wasn`t really mad at her or anything. Sure at first I was a little angry, but only because Cat was so upset. After all Jade was the one who practically forced me into telling Cat about my feelings for her, so there was no reason for me to be mad at her, right? Especially not after our little "acting exercise".

By now Jade was glaring at both of us. "I so didn`t deserve this, you know. I only didn`t tell any of you, because it wouldn`t have been... as romantic."

Cat rolled her eyes. "Since when excatly is Jade West into romantic stuff?"

"Oh I am not... I just kind of thought you two would be." Jade said.

"Aww. That`s so sweet." Cat squealed and hugged Jade.

"Yeah well, don`t mention it. Ever!" She demanded.

"Got it." Cat and I said at once.


	12. Chapter 12

**Hey guys! :D Here`s the next chapter. Finally ;)  
Merry Christmas to all of you :D**

**If you have any wishes or thoughts on a scene that I could add to the story, just let me know. :)**

**Viel Spaß beim Lesen, eure Just! :D**

* * *

"So you two are together now? I mean for real?" Jade asked and couldn`t suppress a small smile.

"Yup." Cat said and kissed me again. I just grinned and said nothing.

"Well I`m happy for you." You could see that she meant it. "But don`t go around acting all fluffy and amorous or something. I would have to kill you." Now that sounded a lot more like Jade.

Cat and me decided to tell the others during lunch and Jade thought about bringing a camera to take a picture of Robbie`s face. She was confident that Robbie was going to cry, now that he had to admit he had no chance at becoming Cat`s boyfriend. I would pity him, but it was Cat who we were talking about and I definitely didn`t want her to become Robbie`s girlfriend. Hell no, I didn`t.

"And please do not make out in front of the boys! They are just going to drool all over you." Jade made a disgusted face. I had to laugh hard about the picture that was coming into my head. Cat just giggled.

"I`m going to grab a coffee. I would ask you to come with me, but I think you would rather have your alone time." Jade winked and left the classroom.

The second Jade had left the room Cat jumped into my arms and said: "She`s right. I`d rather have you for my own." I giggled and kissed her.

When we were running out of breath Cat led go of me and smiled. I wished we could just go home again and cuddle in my bed. It would be so much better than sitting in class, where we were not allowed to do **anything**. Kissing was actually forbidden in school. Don`t ask me why, but it is in the house regulatory. How stupid was this? It`s a school...with teenagers...hormone crazy teenagers.

"Oh I almost forgot something!" Cat had a huge smile on her face when she took out a small box and handed it to me. "Open it."

Not wanting to make her wait I opened the little present. In the box was the loveliest golden bracelet I had ever seen. It consisted of tiny rings that were intertwined with each other and one ruby heart which reflected the light and made it sparkle. Engraved in the heart were our names.

I stared at the piece of jewelry. "Oh my gosh... Cat." I had to keep myself from crying.

"What you don`t like it?" She asked insecure.

"Are you kidding me? Cat, this is so beautiful. I love it!" I kissed her quickly and hugged her tightly. "And I love you."

"I know. I love you too and I am glad you like it." She smiled.

* * *

Lunch started in 5 minutes. Cat and I were sitting in math class and looked at the clock every 3 seconds. I could tell that she was nervous and who am I kidding, I was nervous too. I didn`t really think that one of our friends could react badly to what we had to tell them, but you could never know about such things. Maybe they thought it wasn`t normal or something.

When the bell rang Cat squeezed my hand which she had been holding onto for the last half an hour.

"Calm down. They are going to understand. They are our friends, they have to." I tried to convince her... and myself.

Our friends were already sitting at our usual table when we got there. Jade gave us a smile, which made Beck raise an eyebrow.

Cat and me sat down on the opposite of Beck, Andrè and Robbie (well and Rex). The boys were all deep in conversation until Jade cleared her throat.

"Cat and I have to tell you something." I started "Please hear us out." I looked at Cat and she nodded.

"You might have noticed that my behavior around Cat has changed a little in the last few weeks." The boys nodded. "Well that kind of didn`t happen without reason..." I said and suppressed a smile.

"I like Tori!" Cat shouted.

The boys only laughed and Andrè said: "Well of course you do, she`s your best friend. It would be weird if you didn`t like her."

"Cat is not just my best friend anymore." I stated. Now there were just questioning looks on all faces, except for Beck. I wondered why that was...

I could see Jade prepare to take a picture of Robbie`s face when I started my next sentence: "Cat and I are dating. She`s my girlfriend and I love her."

Andrè`s chin dropped and you could really see that he didn`t expect that. Robbie`s expression was somehow really different, but he didn`t cry. Beck was just Beck. He smiled at us and said: "That was about time, don`t you think?"

That even surprised Jade, cause she asked him: "Since when did you know that?!"

"Cat was pretty obvious since day one and I figured Tori would fall in love with her sooner or later." He explained with a shrug of his shoulders.

"Wait, wait, wait, wait." Andrè stuttered. "I thought you were straight." His question was directed at me, but Cat answered.

"A lot of girls are straight until they are not" She told him and I giggled.

"I couldn`t phrase it any better." I gave her a kiss on her cheek.

"Stop staring at them like that you weirdo!" Jade suddenly screamed at Robbie.

"What? I didn`t do anything!" He shouted blushing. I looked at him and realized what Jade meant with "like that".

"Robbie!" I shrieked. "You`re so gross!" _I only kissed her on the cheek and he starts to fantasize?!_

Cat looked confused: "What did he do?"

"Trust me, you don`t want to know." I told her, gave Robbie an angry stare and took a deep breath. "So I can see that Robbie is more than okay with it. And Beck knew it all along." I gave him a smile. "Andrè?"

"As long as you two are happy, I`m happy." He stated simply.

"Great!" I called out and Cat cheered like a little kid, which was super cute by the way. I would have kissed her, but I didn`t want to do it in front of Robbie, so I just squeezed her hand lightly.

"Hey that explains why Jade is suddenly so nice to Tori!" Andrè pointed out.

"Oh shut up. I`m not nice to her." Jade said, but gave me a wink. It seemed like everything was okay. I had to admit that I was almost happy. It was great that all of our friends reacted this way, but we still had to tell our parents.

Cat looked me in the eyes and she knew that there was something wrong. I just shook my head and made her know that I would tell her later. She gave me a peck on the lips and leaned against me while our friends kept teasing Jade about her being nice to me. I smiled. Yup, we could take care of the rest later.

* * *

**Hope you liked it :)  
Merry Christmas again and stay well ;*  
Eure Just :D**


	13. Chapter 13

**Hey guys! :D**

**I guess that`s the first time I don`t feel the urge to apologize to you for taking forever to post a new chapter. ;D  
I`m trying really hard to at least post one or two chapters per month, but sometimes it`s hard for me, because of the suff that`s going on in my life. Like school and family and so on.**

**And I do have a life you know. ;)  
I hope that I`ll be able to upload the next chapter as quickly. :)**

**I don`t want to keep you from reading any longer so:  
Happy reading. :D  
Viel Spaß beim Lesen, eure Just :D**

* * *

Cat and I were in my room. We decided to go straight to my place after school, since we knew that Cat`s Dad wouldn`t have anything against it. My parents were at work, like usual and Trina was... well I didn`t know were Trina was, but I assumed she wasn`t going to come home early, she never did.

We both had to do a lot of homework, but our books were laying on the floor. The bed was needed for something that was a lot more fun than doing homework. My eyes were closed and I could feel Cat`s soft lips on my own. Her tongue was playing with my lower lip and was soon met by mine. I rolled over her to take control over the kiss. We were both breathing heavily by now. Cat`s hands moved their way up under my shirt and pulled me closer to her. Our bodies were pressed against each other when we heard a knock.

"Tori! Are you in there? Why is the door locked?" I gulped, that was my Mum. What was she doing home so early?! I jumped of the bed and went to unlock the door, while fixing my hair.

"Mum what are you doing here?" I asked, trying to stay calm.

"I live here. Is someone in there with you?" She asked and looked past me.

"Hey Mrs. Vega." Cat greeted her.

"Hello Cat. Tori, why was the door locked?" She asked again with an eyebrow raised.

"Uhm... Cat and I are doing homework and... and we didn`t want Trina to disturb us." I finished my sentence quickly.

"Trina isn`t even home." My Mum stated.

"Really? I thought she was." I tried to look surprised. "Why are you home so early? I thought you were still working."

"I wasn`t feeling so well and decided to come home early." Mum said. "I`m going to lay down for a bit. Please don`t make any noise and no locking the door." With that she turned around and walked to her room. I closed the door silently and let myself fall on my bed with a sigh.

"You know for being such a talented actor you sure got to learn how to lie." Cat teased.

"Yeah. I guess you`re right." I laughed. "Do you wanna teach me how to lie? I bet you do it soo much better than me." I said and tickled her.

"Tori-hi stop. Sto-hop." She whisper-laughed, so not to wake my Mum. I swiftly got on top of her, so she had no chance to escape me. I grinned, took both of her hands and put them above her head.

"So what are you going to do now?" But I didn`t wait for an answer and just pressed my lips against hers. I let go of her hands and started to kiss her neck. I knew that Cat tried to keep her moans to a minimum while I sucked at her pulse point, but it was still kind of loud... I sighed.

"Seems like we have to stop. We don`t want my Mum to come in here again and see us making out." I said and closed my eyes in frustration.

"Why not? We got to tell her anyway, sooner or later that is." Cat started to kiss every part of my face. My nose, cheeks, forehead, eyes and finally she touched my lips slightly with hers. That made me smile. Cat was always so gentle and loving.

I wrapped my arms around her neck and said: "Yeah, you`re right, but do you want her to find out _that _way?" Cat giggled.

"So... how do you want to tell her?" She asked with an expression that said everything I say would be okay with her.

"I don`t know yet. Maybe I should tell Trina first..." I wondered out loud.

"Trina? Why would you do that?" She asked surprised.

"Cause it`s like you said. Nobody at Hollywood Arts has a problem with being different and Trina goes to our school, so why would she have a problem with it. She`s actually pretty different herself."

"That`s an understatement." Cat said and made me laugh.

"Yeah well I guess she is way different." I corrected myself.

"And not in a good way." Cat winked.

"Okay that was mean... but not wrong." I grinned and kissed her. "So what do you think?"

"I think that`s a good idea. If Trina reacts well, which I think she will, she could help you figure out how to tell your parents." Cat had a point. It would be a lot more easy, if I had Trina by my side.

Right in that moment we heard the door shut and angry footsteps coming up the stairs.

"You wanna help me telling her?" I asked Cat a little bit insecure. She nodded and I gave her a grateful smile.

"Trina!" I yelled.

"What?" She was only a few steps away from my room and when she opened it she asked again. "What do you want?" When I didn`t say anything she just sighed and turned around to leave, but Cat held her back.

"Please Trina wait. We have something to talk to you about."

"I hope it`s important. I don`t have the nerve for insignificant things right now. I wouldn`t even be home yet, but that stupid idiot stood me up." She wanted to ramble on, but I cut her off.

"Trust me. It`s important." I said. Trina reluctantly sat down on my desk chair.

"I need you to help me with something. I have to tell Mum and Dad something and I have no idea how they might react and that`s why I need you to have my back okay?" I started. Now Trina was looking at least a bit interested.

"Did you kill someone or something like that?" She asked with the hint of a smile.

"No." I sighed. "If i had killed someone, I would be pretty sure how they would react, don`t you think?" Trina just shrugged.

"It`s about the person I want to be with." I said.

"Uuuuhh... is he a bad boy? Did HE murder someone? Is he in prison? Is he way older than you? Or is it a girl?" She said the last thing jokingly and laughed until her look fell on Cat`s and my linked hands and her eyes lit up in realization. "Oh."

"It`s Cat." I stated the obvious. "I love her and she loves me." I looked at my girlfriend and saw her smiling at me lovingly.

"So for how long has this little thing been going on?" Trina asked.

"Since yesterday, but we`ve liked each other for a while now." I smiled and squeezed Cat`s hand. "Are you okay with it?" I looked at my sister with a hopeful expression.

"Course I am. I think you two are a cute couple and it has something good that you are dating Cat." Trina`s smile spread.

"What?" I asked with one eyebrow raised.

"More boys for me." She said and I laughed. I was so happy that she was okay with me and Cat being together that I jumped of the bed and hugged her. Surprisingly she hugged me back.

"Please help me to figure out how to tell Mum and Dad." I said as I led go of her.

"Sure baby sis. We`ll figure something out." Trina promised. "I`m quite sure that Mum would be happy for you. I don`t know about Dad though, but even if he is against it, he`ll come around, because he loves you. Also I think that it`s going to be a lot easier, because it`s Cat you`re dating."

"Why?" Cat asked perplexed.

"Cause everybody loves you. You`re like a big pet or something. All cute and big eyed. I don`t think it`s possible for anyone to not at least like you." Trina stated.

"I`ll have to agree with Trina on that." I said and kissed her on the cheek, which made her blush.

"So I`m going to take a shower and leave you two alone." She smiled. She looked really happy. I think she felt kind of proud that I trusted her so much that I told her something like that before telling our parents.

"Thank you." I said before Trina left the room and she answered with a soft "Anytime".

"That went pretty well." Cat said after Trina had closed the door behind her. I nodded and kissed her softly on the lips.

"It did. It really did." I smiled.


End file.
